>> dana: what about the other most wonder you recallful performance? dierks bentley. >> we got to go. see you tomorrow. >> bret: for the first time in 600 years, a pope decides to resign. this is "special report." ♪ ♪ >> bret: good evening. i'm bret baier. it has been anything for just another money for 1.2 billion catholics across the globe. pope benedict xvi stunned virtually everyone announcing he will step down at the end of the month. in the catholic church, that sets off an elaborate and spiritual effort to fill one of the most prestigious jobs in the world. senior foreign affairs correspondent amy kellogg begins our coverage from rome.

>> reporter: even to many insiders the announcement came at a shock. pope benedict said he no longer has the strength to lead the roman catholic church as it needs to be guided and he will step down on february 28. >> he is loved for the church such that he has concluded it will be better not to try to lead the huge flock. without the full strength. we pray for him. we pray for the church. >> i have always admired him as a scholar and priest and holy man. now the admiration for him is higher because of the humility. >> cardinal was the oldest to be chosen as pope. he had a tough act to follow in the wake of global adoration enjoyed by his predecessor, pope john paul ii. he rose to the occasion, travelling abroad, two dozen times, including trips to

israel, the united states and lebanon. born in germany in 1947 he was forced to join the hitler youth and nazi army but deserted toward the end of the world. cardinal ratzinger had an enforcement of catholic doctrine. he was tenure include sexual abuse scandal ins the church. accused of being slow to act to resol tv problem he gained credit for how he dealt with the crisis. >> handleed it sensitively and very forth rightly amid clarity. he brought in measures to try and stamp out the coverup culture and he has brought in base for people to console. >> a great goal was to bring people back to the church, as what he considered the excessive secularization. he employed skills as a writer and a teacher. >> it was incredible

effective. he sounded just like a real good parish catechism teacher. combination there of great depth. same time, simplicity in explaining some of the concepts. >> while he enlisted -- elicited less emotion than the last pontiff, many say pope benedict commandered respect for intellectual rigor. those who know him personally say he did give off much warmth. >> i told his secretary, i said, you know, benedict a gentleman and a gentleman. he said that was best description he heard of the holy father. >> reporter: bret, the pope's resignation is effective at 8:00 p.m. on february 28. and then the process of electing a new pope begins. there will be a conclave of 118 cardinals. bret, those are the cardinals that are under the age of 80. that is a requirement. a lot of speculation, as you know, of who it might be.

will there finally be an african-american pope? latin american pope? north american pope? will it come back to italy? all of that, of course, will be talked about very much in the coming weeks. the vet can hopes that the new -- vatican hopes the new pope will be ready to lead easter mass on that sunday. back to you. >> bret: thank you. get thoughts on the development and what it means for the catholic church from the archbishop of washington. his eminence, cardinal donald woerl. thank you for being here. >> pleasure. >> bret: you were shocked by this. >> you are right. it was a shock. to hear the news that the holy father chosen to be resign. this is the first time in modern history this has happened. i don't think that anyone was prepared to hear this today.

in a way it speaks to the greatness of this hope. he has the humility to size up the situation today and his own ability to handle the demands of the office. courage to say it's better to be someone with more energy. today the papacy is more than ever a ministry of presence. for our holy father to be as engaged in the life of the church today as he has been up to this moment is his great gift. doesn't it take a big person to say i don't think i have the strength to continue to do this? my first thought when i heard this after i got over the shock was what a humble and wonderful man this pope is.

>> bret: you know, you look at the statement, and he says he examined it in his conscience and he came to that point, where he thought his strength was not there. and that in strength of mind and body to do the job that he thinks needs to be done for the church, someone else should do it. it's just, it is historic that it has been 600-plus years since a pope has done that. >> i think when he said he doesn't have the energy, he was talking about the physical stamina. today, he has to be in so many different places. not just in rome, but around the world. there is more to it. i think his holy father recognizes how we live in an i believe of instantaneous communication, we live in an age where social communications dominate how we relate one to another. and i think he is saying that

his ability just to be able to do all of that in the way he feels it should be done, his ability waned. purely a question of physical energy. >> bret: do you see this as an opportunity for the church? >> a wonderful opportunity for to us look at first of all what it is that has driven his ministry and where we need to go with that. this holy father has called the church to look at her spiritual ministry. how does the church take the gospel of jesus christ and bring it to a world today that is so caught up in the secular, so driven by other forces.

he said that and secular drive and belief in god is compatible and you have to take it in your personal life and put it together. that's what he has said. that is going to be part of the challenge moving in the future. >> bret: catholic church has had things that officials said could have been handleed a lot differently from the top. >> that is part of the institution that divine and human. we follow in the pattern of the incarnate lord. the church has a spiritual devine side and it's caught up, it's wrapped up in human beings, frail as we are, regularly make mistakes. in an institution that is 2,000 years old, what counts is the continuity of the truth. we keep righting the wrongs. when as a failure we correct that failure and move on.

this holy father has been a hero of that, to say the church needs constantly to be making herself as credible as possible in the world that looks to the church for some spiritual guidance. >> bret: so now you have 1.2 billion catholics around the world, holding their breath to see before easter the conclave happen in rome, in which a new pope is chosen. it seems like it will be such an amazing process. you will be there. >> i look forward to the experience. brand new experience for me to be a voting member of a conclave. most are not directly impacted. the parishes where we go to mass and receive the sack remeant. life -- sacrament. life will continue on with a rhythm to it. the intriguing part is okay,

what will it look like at the top? what will the chief shepard look like? who will he be? what will be his emphasis? >> the vatican is saying that pope benedict will not take part in the conclave. when you go to rome and you see pope benedict and it's after february 28, what do you call him? >> this is the great challenge, protocol challenge, we have never faced this before. it would be hard to think of benedict as anything but our holy father. i love him. i respect the office. even though he doesn't hold that office, there are always going to be identified for me in him and obviously, i transfer my allegiance now to his successor. but it is going to be a bit of a tug at the heart if he and his successor walk in the room at the same time. >> bret: the final thing. you see this as an

opportunity. you see this as a signal of this man and what he wanted to do for the church. >> i think his great legacy will be that he has said over and over and over again to the church concentrate on our spiritual mission. the work of church is a spiritual one. bring people an encounter with christ and his gospel. let people know every person on this planet is capable of a relationship with god. life-giving relationship. that is going to be his legacy. the challenge will be to continually preach that. and his predecessor did that and his successor will do that. each bring their own personality, but the message is always the same. >> bret: your eminence, please check back in with us. >> be very happy to. thank you. great being with you. >> bret: up next, what you can expect to hear in the

"state of the union" address. keep it here. today is gonna be an important day for us. you ready? we wanna be our brother's keeper. what's number two we wanna do? bring it up to 90 decatherms.

how bout ya, joe? let's go ahead and bring it online. attention on site, attention on site. now starting unit nine. some of the world's cleanest gas turbines are now powering some of america's biggest cities. siemens. answers.

i got your campbell's chunky soup. mom? who's mom? i'm the giants mascot. the giants don't have a mascot! ohhh! eat up! new jammin jerk chicken soup has tasty pieces of chicken with rice and beans. hmmm. for giant hunger! thanks mom! see ya! whoaa...oops! mom? i'm ok. grandma? hi sweetie! she operates the head. [ male announcer ] campbell's chunky soup. it fills you up right.

>> bret: we are about 27 hours away from president obama's first "state of the union" address of the second term. chief white house correspondent ed henry tells us what we can expect to hear. >> president obama only used the word "jobs" twice in the inaugural address, his team is now building tuesday's big speech as a continuation of a major push on the economy. >> you will hear in the president's "state of the union" an outline from him for his plan to create jobs and grow the middle class. the president has always viewed the two speeches, inaugural address and "state of the union" two acts of the same play. >> the play since inaugural featured scenes with the president focusing instead on gun control, immigration reform and other issues. leading to headlines this weekend about the president

pivoting back to jobs. a phrase republicans say they have heard nearly a dozen times since mr. obama first tried to pivot back from healthcare. >> the president spent most of the first term avoiding the issues americans cared about most. >> what i am suggesting is he not do the same thing this time around. >> white house officials note the overall thrust of the inaugust ral address was about helping the middle class -- inaugural address was helping the middle class. and jobs is priority number one. >> there is no pivot here. the president's principal reoccupation since he ran for the office in 2007 has been, you know, what we need to do to make our economy work for the middle class. >> and yet the public appears to believe the efforts have fallen short. with a quinnipiac poll finding last week 53% of the public believes the nation is till in recession. another challenge for the president aides are signaling he will be more combative toward republicans tuesday night and will say little about cutting the size of

government. though the latest fox news poll found when asked what issues they are extremely concerned about, number one was government spending. ahead of healthcare and the economy. despite democratic leader nancy pelosi claiming to fox's chris wallace, washington does not have a spending problem. >> it's almost a false argument to say we have a spending problem. we have a budget deficit problem we have to address. >> now pelosi went on to claim that nothing brings more money in the u.s. treasury than investing in education. investing another word for spending. bret? >> bret: so, ed, what are we hearing if the president will tack the deficit in the speech? >> interesting, because today jay carney said he does believe there is a spending problem in washington. he seems to disagree with nancy pelosi a little bit. carney went on to say he believes the problem is with spending on healthcare. so something the president tried to tack with the affordable care act and carney went on to say the president doesn't believe the government is too big now. when you compare it to

historic levels, sign he is not going all in on the deficit tomorrow night. he is going all in on new investments. >> bret: okay. ed henry live on the north lawn. thank you. you can see the president's speech along with the republican response on fox news channel tuesday starting at 8:55:00 p.m. eastern. and to share your thoughts and opinions on tuesday's address, you can take part in something new. in the bing pulse at bing.com/politics. fox news is partnering with bing to get a pulse of what viewers think of the "state of the union" address. you can log on. go to page right here and throughout the address, give us your live feedback as we scroll down the page. you can see the different type of issues. they will be split up through the address. you can click on there and make your feelings clear throughout the address. complete breakdown. after the speech we have the data real-time. you can see it on the screen throughout the speech. it's something new. you will be able to weigh in.

and see reactions of millions of people. real-time. still ahead -- why the cabinet is not for the "state of the union." first, a hero's story. [ kitt ] you know what's impressive? a talking car. but i'll tell you what impresses me. a talking train. this ge locomotive can tell you exactly where it is, what it's carrying, while using less fuel. delivering whatever the world needs, when it needs it. ♪ after all, what's the point of talking if you don't have something important to say? ♪ if you don't have something important to say? for over 75 years people ...with geico... ohhh...sorry!. director's voice: here we go. from the top. and action for over 75 years people have saved money with gecko so.... director's voice: cut it! ...what...what did i say? gecko? i said gecko? aw... for over 75 year...(laughs. but still trying to keep it contained)

director's voice: keep it together. i'm good. i'm good. for over 75...(uncontrollable laughter). what are you doing there? stop making me laugh. vo: geico. saving people money for over seventy-five years. gecko: don't look at me. don't look at me. it's eb. want to give your family the very best in taste, freshness, and nutrition? it's eb. want to give them more vitamins, omega 3s, and less saturated fat? it's eb. eggland's best eggs. eb's. the only eggs that make better taste and better nutrition... easy. eggland's best eggs. better taste. better nutrition. better eggs. it's eb.

>> bret: three people were killed this morning in courthouse shooting in delaware. police say the suspected gunman and two women were killed. two officers suffered nonlife threatening injuries in the shoot-out in wilmington. the $1 million reward for information leading to the capture of former lapd cop is still on the table tonight. the department is on tactical alert. christopher corner is expected in three deaths, including one police officer.

another name has been added to the distinguish list of medal of honor recipients. national homeland security correspondent jennifer griffin with a story of courage under fire. >> staff sergeant clinton romesha served two tours in iraq and one in afghanistan. came from a family of veterans, married his high school sweetheart tammy and had three kids. october 3, 2009, everything changed. predawn ambush, combat output near the pakistan border, 300 taliban stormed the base where 50 american seasonals became sitting ducks in a valley surrounded by mountains owned by the enemy. >> what happened next is described as one of the most intense battles of the war in gans. they have the advantage, high ground. unleashing everything they had. >> clinton romesha and others jumped from their beds. managed to call in air support that killed 30 insurgents.

>> rocket-propelled gri free naid exploded sending shrapnel in to his hip, arm and neck. he kept fighting. >> combat came within ten feet. >> he and his team kept charging. 50-meters. 80-meters. ultimately 100-meter run through a hail of bullets. they reached the fallen friends and brought them home. >> staff sergeant clinton romesha remains reluctant hero. >> this reward is for the eight seasonals that didn't make it. for the rest of the team that fought valueaboutly and magnificently that day. >> the parents at the white house for medal of honor ceremony. the fellow soldiers say they would follow staff sergeant romesha to hell and back. they did on october 3, 2009. at a remote outpost in afghanistan. at the pentagon, jennifer griffin, fox news.

>> bret: millions in the northeast are digging out. and powering up after a mas massive snowstorm over the weekend. at least 15 deaths are blamed to system that dumped up to three pet feet of snow in some places. school, businesses and roads were closed today. 130,000 people remain without power. most in massachusetts. parts of mississippi are cleaning up tonight from a huge tornado. this is what it looksed like sunday in hattiesburg. this is what it looks like today. the twister danieled buildings at the university of southern mississippi. more than 60 people were hurt in three counties but there have been formerly no reports of fatalities. in time for valentine's day', fortune cookies minus the romance. apparently there is nothing you cannot gamble on. the odds of the next pope coming up in the grapevine. great, everybody made it.

we all work remotely so this is a big deal, our first full team gathering! i wanted to call on a few people. ashley, ashley marshall... here. since we're often all on the move, ashley suggested we use fedex office to hold packages for us. great job. [ applause ] thank you. and on a protocol note, i'd like to talk to tim hill about his tendency to use all caps in emails. [ shouting ] oh i'm sorry guys. ah sometimes the caps lock gets stuck on my keyboard. hey do you wanna get a drink later? [ male announcer ] hold packages at any fedex office location. i'm here to pick up some cacti. it should be under stephens.

the verizon share everything plan for small business. get a shareable pool of data... got enough joshua trees? ... on up to 25 devices. so you can spend less time... yea, the golden barrels... managing wireless costs and technology and more time driving your business potential. looks like we're going to need to order more agaves... ah! oh! ow! ... and more bandages. that's powerful. sharble data plus unlimited talk and text. now save $50 on a droid razr maxx hd by motorola. to compete on the global stage. what we need are people prepared for the careers of our new economy. by 2025 we could have 20 million jobs without enough college graduates to fill them. that's why at devry university, we're teaming up with companies like cisco to help make sure everyone's is ready with the know how we need for a new tomorrow. [ male announcer ] make sure america's ready. make sure you're ready. at devry.edu. ♪

now to political grapevine. within hours of the resignation bookmakers have odds on who the next pope might be. the length of the papal conclave. or what the papal name might be. the early favorite cardinal peter turksin of ghana with 3:1 odds.

cardinal timothy dolan is now at 25:1. longshot, bono. yes, that bono with 1,000: 1 odds. one person you can safely bet against, vice president joe biden. when asked about the pope's resignation today he told reporters, "i'm not running." the man claiming to be the seal team six member who killed usama bin laden left the military and says he lost all of his mention and pension. elite navy seal who is not being identified tells "esquire" magazine he left the military three years shy of the 20 necessary for retirement benefit. i asked if there was some transition for my tri care to blue cross blue shield and they said no. you are out of the service. your coverage is over. thanks for your 16 years. go blank yourself. navy released this statement saying we take seriously the

safety and security of our people, as well as our responsibility to assist sailors making a transition to civilian life. without more information about this particular case it would be difficult to term the degree of the transition program succeeded. author of that article is on hannity tonight. the world's largest fortune cookie company is toning down the messages. after complaints they were too racy. "new york post" reports the food received complaints from parents who said the children were bothered by messages like "one who admires you greatly is hidden before your eyes." "romance and travel go together." "the evening promises romantic interest." the fortune writer say the cookies are supposed to be fun for everyone so they've gotten rid of the suggestive fortunes. this isn't the first time, though, sensitive fortune readers persuaded them to tweak a message a bit. they got rid of "you will

inherit a great fortune soon" over complaints it implied relatives were about to die. president obama will not have his full cabinet lineup in place for tomorrow night's "state of the union" speech. chief political correspondent carl cameron tonight tells us why things are taking so long. >> the day before the "state of the union" address, the state of president obama's second term cabinet is incomplete and facing roadblocks. south carolina senator lindsey graham says he will block confirmation of chuck hagel for defense secretary and john brennan for c.i.a. until they clear up issues ranging from the terrorist attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi to enhanced interrogation techniques for suspected terrorists. i don't think we should allow brennan to go forward for the c.i.a. directorship, hagel to be confirmed to secretary of defense until white house gives us an accounting. >> democrats are angry and worried.

>> what is unfortunate is the account to politicize an issue. they need to be confirmed. >> hagel is not for defense secretary faces committee vote wednesday. some republicans, though not mccain threatened to walk out in protest. hagel and brennan nomination could be put on hold before a final floor vote. should either nomination get that far they could face filibusters. >> i want 60-vote margin. you don't have to fill buster to get. they would threat on the call 60-vote margin. >> the president's only new confirmed secretary is john kerry replacing hillary clinton at state. but kerry was the president's second choice, only after u.n. ambassador susan rice came under fire for initially suggesting last year that the benghazi attacks were not terrorism. mr. obama's fielding his second term team late. both bill clinton and bush had the second term rosters confirmed by now. wednesday, president's pick for treasury secretary jack lew begips confirmation hearings and is under the microscope for offshore account in cayman islands and

jeff sessions is threatening to block lew's nomination for allegedly misleading congress in past budget testimony. >> you normally don't build up the cabinet people. we try not to do that. it's not done often. almost never in the senate. but this is a big deal. >> the president nominated rei sporting goods ceo as secretary last week. and tapped mary jo white to head securities and exchange commission but there are many more vacancies. need new secretary of commissioner, energy, transportation, labor and new directors for small business administration, environment patrol text agency and bureau of comeback, and fire arms. this could be the bumpiest. critics say he has not complied with the basic document requests. what is going on with that? >> hagel was supposed to hand over formal speeches from 2008 on. colleague rosen uncovered two speeches on the arab-israeli that he did not disclose. some of the speeches before 2008 when he was a senator

were pro arab group including some at time were hostile to israel. they have gone above and beyond the document request and this is not part of what was canned for. separately, brennan has serious democratic critics who threatened to hold up his nomination over the role of the enhanced interrogation technique like water boarding and drone attacks. >> bret: thank you. his full post on foxnews.com by the way. stocks began the week on a down note. dow lost 22. the s&p 500 was off one. nasdaq dropped two. government said at least one in five consumers, one in five, has an error on the credit report. the federal trade commission says one in four has a mistake that could effect a score. 1 in 1020 has errors serious enough to lead to higher cost for loan and insurance. special panel of journalists and experts on the shocking resignation of the pope straight ahead. then, krauthammer, hayes and

stoddard after that on "special report." [ lisa ] my name's lisa, and chantix helped me quit. i honestly loved smoking, and i honestly didn't think i would ever quit. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. it put me at ease that you could smoke on the first week. [ male announcer ] some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. if you have a history heart or blood vsel problems, tell your doctor if you have new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack. use caution when driving or operating machinery. common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. with chantix and with the support system it worked. it worked for me. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if chantix is right for you.

bikes and balloons, and noodles on spoons. a kite, a breeze, a dunk of grilled cheese. catches and throws, and spaghettio's. a wand, some wings, soup with good things. sidewalks and doodles and wholesome noodles. puddles and pails and yes, puppy dog tails. for a lunch like this, there's a hug and a kiss. because that's what happy kids are made of. campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do.

i would presume that his esteem for the office as the successor of st. peter and chief pastor of the church universal, that esteem is so high that an n all humility he said i can't do it anymore. it would be best for the church and for me if i would step aside. that is, that realistic humility only enhances the wonderful virtues that i have seen. and cardinal joseph ratzinger and pope benedict xvi. >> bret: it was a surprise. coac.pope benedict xvi will resn february 28. that will start a conclave to make new pope in rome sometime before easter. here is the letter from pope benedict said.

the resignation letter. in today's world, stout so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance of the life of faith in order to govern the bark of st. peter and proclaim the gospel, strength of mind and body are necessary. strength in the last few months deteriorated in me to the extent i have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me. for this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom i declare i renounce the ministry of bishop of rome. successor of st. peter and entrusted to me by the cardinals on 19 april, 2005. amazing. welcome in a special panel to talk about the resignation. kathryn lopez with national review online. she talked to the pope last fall. david kerr is the correspondent with ewtn, global catholic media network in the u.s.. steven white is the fellow in the catholic studies program at ethics and public policy

center in washington. i think we can get out of the way that everybody here was shocked and surprised when they got the news this morning. first, you talked with pope benedict and you had a conversation, and that experience and then you get this news today. what about that? >> that was shocking. but also, totally consistent in keeping with i think the pope and what we need right now. there is a lot of talk about renewal. evangelization and church talk. something bold needed to happen. that is what we see here. the boldness is i saw him also, saw him in october, i saw him in december. conference on the church in the americas. bottom line, if people don't encounter christ and if you people who are leaders in catholic church in so to speak, if you haven't encountered christ, if you are not living a pure holy life,

rig lousily so and joyfully so, the rest of the programs don't matter that much. today in that statement, you see a window in pope's life. and when i met him in october i thanked him. not most creative thing. but i thanked him for jesus of nazareth, the books he has written. he gave me a book of appreciation, you get it. this is about jesus. not about me. that's the statement today. that is what is happening. >> bret: so, you know, there are people out there who say there is more to this. obviously, the people who look at the catholic church with skepticism, they don't fully know about the vatican. there are a lot of things that people don't know about the vatican. you covered this for a long time. your thoughts about the process and what this means today for catholic church. going forward. >> a day every adjective is

been atyed about. incredible, ensational, unbelievable. in term oswhat have this means for catholic church, a remarkably unsensationm sensational day. the reality is that whoever follows pope benedict xvi as successor of peter, it's not like the change of leader of political party. not a debate of change of policy in the g.o.p. or the democratic party. whoever succeeds him as the next pope will continue with the same gospel of the same jesus christ, the same teachings and matters of faith and morals. that is why to some extent this is remarkable thing, but unremarkable day for the teachings of the church will remain consistent from one pope to the next. >> bret: do you think that the church, and we heard cardinal woerl talk about this earlier, that is there is a want and a need to reach out,

a need to have some kind of newness, something that kathryn talked about? >> yeah. i think that is true. i think that is kind of the point here. if the job of the pope was to be theologian and chief and write the books he has been writing, if that was enough i don't think he would be resigning. i think he realizes that the ministry he was called upon to fill, is one he can't fulfill anymore because he can't live a life of apostolic vigor like the position needs. the pope isn't just a figurehead. he is an apostle. a successor to the apostles and an apostle and his job is go out and spread the gospel. if he can't do, that he needs to step out of the way to allow someone else who can to do that. so i think that this resignation shows his understanding of what his job as pope is. this is not a management job. this is a job of spreading the truth, of the catholic church.

>> bret: yeah. >> this is not a management job. at the same time, too, there is reform as the friends, george wegel writes about. in the new book. evangelical catholicism, like a blueprint what to do next. he talks about the reform in burbureaucracy. when you are the age of pope benedict and doctor says you can't travel that is part of the picture, too. getting some new, the newness. new blood in. somebody who really knows and wants to take the reins and help reform. you see in the papal butler story and the -- there are a lot of problems to be fixed in addition to the teachings that needs to happen. he would be awesome theologian as pope. but there is more to it. >> bret: we start the process quickly about the conclave. this is the mystery i was stalking about. locked in the analysi sistine cl

and we will follow it. catholics will watch it intently as will the rest of the world. this is a pretty amazing process to choose the next pope, happening in a lentil season. >> it's amazing. it's often applied to the catholic church as it makes its way through the length but never before in a global way has this been manifested as people will give up whatever they are giving number the next few years, drinks or alcohol. and uniting themselves for whoever will be elected for successor of the pope benedict as the oldest continuing institution in the western world. it's still attracts great interest and mystery. i'm sure people will be tuned in as it unfolds. to see who emerges as the successor. as i say, it's not like change of head of political party. teachings will remain consistent and faithful to

jesus christ. >> bret: steven, david, kathryn. thank you. special panel. next up the regular panel and "state of the union" address. tomorrow night. [ female announcer ] caltrate's done even more to move us. because vitamin d3 helps bones absorb calcium, caltrate's double the d. it now has more than any other brand to help maximize calcium absorption. so caltrate women can move the world. to help maximize calcium absorption. all stations come over to mithis is for real this time. step seven point two one two. rify and lock. command is locked. five seconds. three, two, one.

standing by for capture. the most innovative software on the planet... dragon is captured. is connecting today's leading companies to places beyond it. siemens. answers.

the address contained within it, powerful lines from the president about issues like comprehensive immigration reform or the need to address climate change or gun violence. all of those issues combined got less space if you will in the inaugust ral address in the economy and jobs. >> bret: we noted that at the time. back with the regular panel tonight about the "state of the union." steve hayes for "weekly

standard." a.b. stoddard of the hill. syndicated columnist charles krauthammer. "state of the union" address tomorrow night. you had the senate minority leader mitch mcconnell who will be here tomorrow as our guest. before the "state of the union" address saying that the president spent most of the first temple avoiding things that americans care about and they hope the speech deals with something they do. >> i'm not sure it will be a speech about ideas or progra programs. >> if the inaugural address was ideological address, i think the "state of the union" is going to be extremely aggressive and partisan. obama is still campaigning. he hasn't stopped. part one is rewin the presidency. now he is continuing. the political objective now is reduce and practure, marginalize republicans in the house who were the ones that stopped the agenda in years three and four of his presidency. whom he has to marginalize if he wants to enact the agenda

in the second term. he is going to be out there and going to have republicans on the sequester that is the automatic spending cuts that republicans won't allow to be enacted unless they offer ultimate cuts. obama wants a hike in taxes. he predicts tomorrow night extremely aggressive against republicans on this. he will then go through the litany of all the horrible stuff that is going to happen. if the sequester happens. the food stamps out of the mouth of babes. because the republicans are protecting the oil companies, corporate jet owners and the rich, et cetera, the usual suspects. it will be at the heart of the speech and it's all to back republicans, so he can control washington. >> bret: usually the "state of the union" speeches are not necessarily newsworthy. shopping list of things they want to get done and policies to get through. to have leaked this week two days before, day before, that

it's going to be aggressive in taupe and tenor, it was strange, wasn't it? >> charles might be right how aggressive he is and how partisan it sounds. how ill received it ultimately is. but what is interesting about this one is that in many ways it's the most consequencial "state of the union" address. free from constraint of the electoral politics. on the other hand, it's probably his last address of significance because his window to influence the debate built a legacy and try to actually pass his ambitious agenda closes at the end of the year when both parties focus on the mid-term election and the presidential election in 2016. his hours are few. distance from what he will talk about emotionally tomorrow night, much on gun control. the gaffes from the audience, all of that. the distance from that to the legislative reality of what he can pass is enormous.

in many ways it's a waste of time. he has to come to the center on getting us out of the fiscal hole to get gun control or immigration reform passed. until and unless he does he has no agenda. >> bret: no indication by what the administration officials are pointing out, quoting from a chinese military strategist, saying build your opponent a golden bridge to retreat across. politico story. it doesn't sound like there is a bipartisan tone to it. for democrats in -- moderate democrats in red states up for re-election in 2014, you know, are they comfortable with that? >> this is who the president is. it may not be who he was when

he gave a speech in 2004. he is an aggressive partisan now. that is oh he operates on everything and has for the past several years. i do think that the people that you are pointing to, the moderate red state democrats; particularly, in the senate, who could be vuller inable in two years will be the ones shifting in their shares uncomfortably as the president walks down a not only litany of things he wants but as he levels what will surely be a harsh over-the-top indictment of the republicans. >> if he had such high left inaugural the objective is change agenda. normally a second term president, as barb says, has power in the first year. weakped in the last two years. he has seen it differently. he doesn't have the house now. he has to practure them now. win house in 2014. intact agenda in the lost two years. that is why it will be extremely hard on the

republicans. >> bret: okay. thank you, panel. bonus for you tonight. karl rove and joe trippi online if you check it out on the website. we have a huge video clip with carl and joe. stay tuned to see what not to do when anchoring a newscast. hi. hi.

i'm here to pick up some cacti. it should be under stephens. the verizon share everything plan for small business. get a shareable pool of data... got enough joshua trees? ... on up to 25 devices. so you can spend less time... yea, the golden barrels... managing wireless costs and technology and more time driving your business potential. looks like we're going to need to order more agaves... ah! oh! ow! ... and more bandages. that's powerful. sharble data plus unlimited talk and text. now save $50 on a droid razr maxx hd by motorola.

>> bret: finally tonight, it's always good to have light moments on tv but also good to have good transitions between that and the next thing you do. here is one show's efforts to track the best segways. >> do you remember that show the monkeys that used to talk back in the day. >> that monkey might be a good reality show. i do feel bad for it. thanks, bob. >> a car plunged into a frozen pond but two people in it. [ laughter ] >> bret: no, no, no. tomorrow, as i segway on "special report." we will preview